||boek: In Patagonia||PICADOR

||door: Bruce Chatwin

||taal: en
||jaar: 1979
||druk: ?
||pag.: 188p
||opm.: pocket|like new

||isbn: 0-330-25644-0
||code: 1:001211

--- Over het boek (foto 1): In Patagonia ---

An exhilarating look at a place that still retains the exotic mystery of a far-off, unseen land, Bruce Chatwin's exquisite account of his journey through Patagonia teems with evocative descriptions, remarkable bits of history, and unforgettable anecdotes. Fueled by an unmistakable lust for life and adventure and a singular gift for storytelling, Chatwin treks through "the uttermost part of the earth" - that stretch of land at the southern tip of South America, where bandits were once made welcome-in search of almost forgotten legends, the descendants of Welsh immigrants, and the log cabin built by Butch Cassidy. An instant classic upon its publication in 1977, In Patagonia is a masterpiece that has cast a long shadow upon the literary world.

[source: https--www.goodreads.com]

[2011-03-06]

It was the day before I left for my vacation to South America that I learned about this book. It was an offhand mention by a client, "Oh, have you read In Patagonia?" I picked it up on my way home and stuffed it into the already full backpack.

Chatwin's writing got under my skin, and I don't necessarily mean that in a good way. At times he can turn a beautiful phrase when describing a sunset or the wind scoured landscape that seems to go forever. In other places I wanted him to move on, his prose making me claustrophobic in a place big enough to swallow me whole.

But it was the enveloping wonder of the peripatetic experience that ultimately won me over. Chatwin's willingness to let the experience take hold and push the observer to internal places they might not want to go - once I was in Patagonia, I got it. "It", whatever that thing was and is, changed me. Chatwin mentions the stories of people that spend time, too much time, in the fierce desolation of Patagonia and don't escape with their lives. The wind talks to you, says those things back to you that are inside, that are supposed to stay down.

Near the end of our vacation we were in Ushuaia, Argentina in Tierra del Fuego - the bottom of Patagonia, the tip of the continent. Emboldened and inspired by Chatwin, I asked my wife if we could check to see if there were any last minute berths on a ship to Antarctica. This additional 11 days to our itinerary, and un-budgeted expense, met with solid and well defended resistance by my better half. But would we ever be here again? Somehow my persuasion worked and we took the last boat of the season out of Patagonia to a place that was unlike any other I've ever been.

I'll forgive Chatwin's too many references to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and colonial white-man timbre to some of his musings in exchange for reminding me the importance of walking to experience and getting me out of my comfort zone; getting me close enough to high-fin whales and watch seals display their molars.

Brian [source: https--www.goodreads.com]

[2017-01-21]

This is my first foray into Bruce Chatwin. I have always been wary of travel writing of a certain type when it drifts into literary colonialism. It is too easy for wealthy white travellers to go to foreign lands in search of the interesting and exotic.

There is a good deal of myth surrounding Chatwin and even this book. The whole books starts and finishes with a fossilised piece of skin which Chatwin says he remembers from his childhood. Family myth said it was from a dinosaur, but in actuality it was from a Giant Sloth. It was found by a relative of Chatwin's in Patagonia and he had always wanted to go there. The book is divided into very short chunks, 97 of them in total; Chatwin described the structure in artistic terms as cubist. It isn't a traditional travel narrative as it is quite disconnected. Chatwin gave up his job with a newspaper to go to Patagonia and left in 1974; allegedly sending a telegram of explanation to his editor simply saying "Gone to Patagonia".

A recurring theme of Chatwin's writing is the nomadic life and this is no exception. What Chatwin does do is spend a good deal of time recounting tales of those who have left their mark on Patagonia; mainly European types who settled there in the nineteenth century. He visits the Welsh community and remnants of communities from other European nations. Chatwin chases up those who remembered these characters, now often very old. He also has an interest for significant events like strikes and riots and those who recall them. This leaves the reader wondering about the Patagonia of the time which Chatwin appears to neglect. He does have the ability to describe the backdrop well and there are compelling accounts of the landscape.
What we don't know is whether this is meant to be fact or fiction. Many of those Chatwin spoke to complained bitterly that he had misrepresented them or even lied; Chatwin admitted that he rearranged events and conflated characters. There is a little travelogue, but there is as much myth and history. This makes the whole less easy to define. The reader discovers very little about Chatwin himself and how he relates to those he meets. There are plenty of cowboy myths (Butch Cassidy et al) and tall tales and I did wonder what was the point of travelling just to look for traces of people from Europe and the US.

This is not really about the people of Patagonia and especially not about the indigenous peoples who Chatwin ridicules in numerous stories. Their oppression and persecution seemed of little moment to Chatwin. I was left wondering what the point of it all was and on reflection I much preferred Patrick Leigh Fermor.

Paul [source: https--www.goodreads.com]

[2010-06-30]

Suffering from emotional bumps and bruises I needed a holiday. My brother Tim sent me a voucher so that I could fly to San Francisco for free. I was grateful.

It was cold and gray but I was in San Francisco. One afternoon I found myself footsore and starving. I was heading towards a BART stop when I saw a Thai restaurant on the other side of the street. I trekked up a block, crossed the street and discovered a book shop. Ducking in, I was pleased with their selection. I bought In Patagonia and went down the block to the Thai restauant. Ordering a half liter of house red and pad thai with tofu I opened the book. My food was cold before I put the book down. I chugged the wine and gnoshed as best I could. I hurried to catch my train. Flushed from the wine and my sprint. I opened the book again, when a man seated across asked me if Chatwin was Australian. I told him I didn't think so but he wrote abook about the Outback titled Songlines. The man smiled. His name was Michel and that he was from France and was in California on holiday. His right hand was in a cast. We shook left hands and wished each other good travels.

Jonfaith [source: https--www.goodreads.com]

[2019-11-06]

I don't regret reading this book. There is so much talk about it, I wanted to experience it for myself.

In 1974 Bruce Chatwin, working for The Sunday Times Magazine since 1972, is said to have sent the editor, Francis Wyndham, a telegram. The brief message relayed only four words--"Have gone to Patagonia", this being the sole explanation for his departure. Well actually, what did happen was that he informed the editor via a letter explaining in more detail his need to go to Patagonia. "I am doing a story there for myself, something I have always wanted to write up." This is stated in Nicholas Shakespeare's authoritative biography Bruce Chatwin.

So, what is my point? Much of what is said both about the book and what is in it is up for debate. Chatwin acknowledged that he rearranged events. People he spoke with have criticized him for misrepresenting what they have said. In any case, we are seeing events from one person's point of view-Chatwin's. On the other hand, isn't history and fact often this way?! Artistic license is taken. If an author declares this openly and if the result is a better piece of writing, who is to say this is wrong?!

The book is a mix of many different elements. As explained, there is a mix of fact and fiction. There is description of the land, the vegetation and the people. Historical facts are related. Myths too. In one sense, the book is a travelogue, but Chatwin relates little about himself and little about what he himself saw and experienced during his six-month sojourn in Patagonia begun in November 1974. Instead, he focuses upon the stories told to him by those he met. All the time one must keep in mind that what we are told may not be absolutely true.

Who are the people Chatwin speaks with? Most of them are of European descent-many Welsh and Germans, as well as Italians, Swedes, a Persian and Americans. Many are the descendants of immigrants who left their homeland during the 1800s and early 1900s. Why? To find something better. Some were fleeing. Most have a nomadic strain in them. In coming to the Patagonian patch of earth, they have undeniably left their imprint upon it.

Much of what we are told are stories related by the descendants of the 19th and early 20th century immigrants. It is interesting to note how often they fled one country only to copy in the new what thy had before. One sees this in how they built their homes, set up their communities, in what they ate and in how they clothed themselves.

The volume is made up of ninety-seven short, short chapters. Some lead directly into the next. Many others change topic completely, the result being that what is delivered is disconnected. There is no overview. On closing the book, one has a feel for the place and its people, but the delivery is jumbled and unstructured.

History-wise, there are tidbits of information about strikes, anarchist and socialist movements leading up to the Revolution of 1920, the Council of the Cave Sect, jumbled and mixed with Butch Cassidy's escapades. The lack of overview makes absorbing this information difficult, and in the back of one 's mind is always the nagging thought that perhaps what we are being told is not true!

Chatwin spends a lot of time talking about Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Why he travels to Patagonia and then focuses upon them, well, this just seems silly to me. More significantly, why is there so little written about the indigenous people of the land? There is also a gap of information between the 1920s and his visit in 1974.

Chatwin does give the reader a feel for both the land and the people living there. He draws the physical landscape in brilliant colors, but other than these few pretty lines, I am not blown over by the prose. It is too jumbled, disconnected and choppy for me. It does not flow smoothly. I do not think the departure from truth and the artistic license taken have paid off.

The audiobook is very well narrated by Hugh Fraser. It is quite simply a delight to listen to. The pace is perfect. His tone is clear, but also calm and soothing which is really good given that the text itself is jumbled and disconnected. Four stars for the narration.

The audiobook begins with a long and tedious introduction.

Chrissie [source: https--www.goodreads.com]

--- Over (foto 2): Bruce Chatwin ---

Bruce Charles Chatwin (Dronfield, 13 mei 1940 - Nice, 18 januari 1989) was een Engels romanschrijver en auteur van reisverhalen.

Bruce Chatwin werd in 1940 geboren in Dronfield (bij Sheffield). Hij bracht zijn jeugd door in West Heath, Birmingham en later in Warwickshire.

Nadat Chatwin in 1958 afstudeerde aan het Marlborough College, verhuisde hij naar Londen, waar hij werkte op de Works of Art-afdeling bij het veilinghuis Sotheby's. Door zijn scherpe inzichten werd hij snel Sotheby's expert inzake impressionistische kunst. Later werd hij er een van de directeuren.

In 1964 kreeg Chatwin problemen met het zicht, wat zijn werk uiteraard hinderde. Oogarts Patrick Trevor-Roper stelde vast dat Chatwin strabismus had. Hij adviseerde hem zijn werk gedurende zes maanden te onderbreken en op reis te gaan. Trevor-Roper had meegewerkt in een oogziekenhuis in Addis Abeba en hij adviseerde Chatwin naar Ethiopië te gaan, wat Chatwin ook deed in 1965. Op de terugweg raakte Chatwin gefascineerd door exotische kunst en archeologie. Op 26 augustus 1965 trouwde hij met de Amerikaanse Elizabeth Chanler, die hij bij Sotheby's had leren kennen.

In 1966 nam hij ontslag bij Sotheby's en besloot hij archeologie te studeren aan de Universiteit van Edinburgh. Hoewel hij de Wardrop Prize won voor het "beste werk van het jaar", verloor hij al snel zijn interesse in het academische, archeologische wereldje en maakte hij de opleiding niet af.

In 1972 werd Chatwin bij de Sunday Times Magazine aangenomen als adviseur over kunst en architectuur. Voor het tijdschrift schreef hij reisreportages waarvoor hij de wereld rondreisde. Die reizen leverden hem veel informatie en inspiratie op voor zijn boeken. Hij doorkruiste Afghanistan op zoek naar sporen van Alexander de Grote, bracht in Ivoorkust een tijd door met de nazaten van slaven, ontdekte het archaïsche Wales, het barre Siberië, het wonderlijke Patagonië en de hete binnenlanden van Australië. Centraal in zijn reizen en boeken staat zijn fascinatie voor de rusteloze natuur van de mens. Hij was ervan overtuigd dat elke mens de oerdrang had om (over lange afstanden) rond te trekken.

Begin jaren 1980 werd bij Chatwin hiv vastgesteld. Zelf ontkende hij dat (hij schreef dat zijn ziekte veroorzaakt was door een exotische Chinese schimmel). Hij is overigens nooit openlijk uit de kast gekomen als holebi, hoewel hij op zeer veel mannen én vrouwen een grote aantrekkingskracht uitoefende. Bruce Chatwin overleed op 18 januari 1989 in Nice aan aids. Hij werd slechts 48 jaar oud.

Bruce Chatwin werd begraven in Kardamyli, diep in de Griekse Peloponnesos, bij het op zee uitkijkende huis van zijn gevierde mentor, de reiziger en oorlogsheld Patrick Leigh Fermor.

Chatwins weduwe gaf in 2010 samen met Nicholas Shakespeare, die al eerder een biografie van Chatwin geschreven had, een selectie van Chatwins brieven uit: Under the Sun. The Letters of Bruce Chatwin.

Werk

1977: In Patagonia (In Patagonië)
1980: The Viceroy of Ouidah (De onderkoning van Ouidah, 1981)
1982: On The Black Hill (De zwarte heuvel)
1987: The Songlines (De gezongen aarde, 1988)
1988: Utz
1989: What am I doing here?
1993: Photographs and Notebooks
1995: Anatomy of Restlessness: Uncollected Writings (Anatomie van de rusteloosheid, 1995)
1998: Winding Paths

Prijzen en nomineringen

1978: Hawthornden Prize
1979: E.M. Forster Award
1982: Whitbread Book of the Year Award (Boek van het Jaar-prijs)
1982: James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction (James Tait Black-herdenkingsprijs voor Fictie)
1988: Utz werd genomineerd voor de Booker Prize

[bron: wikipedia]

Charles Bruce Chatwin was an English novelist and travel writer. He won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his novel On the Black Hill (1982). In 1972, Chatwin interviewed the 93-year-old architect and designer Eileen Gray in her Paris salon, where he noticed a map of the area of South America called Patagonia, which she had painted. "I've always wanted to go there," Bruce told her. "So have I," she replied, "go there for me." Two years later in November 1974, Chatwin flew out to Lima in Peru, and reached Patagonia a month later. When he arrived, he left the newspaper with a telegram: "Have gone to Patagonia." He spent six months in the area, a trip which resulted in the book In Patagonia (1977). This work established his reputation as a travel writer. Later, however, residents in the region contradicted the account of events depicted in Chatwin's book. It was the first time in his career, but not the last, that conversations and characters which Chatwin presented as fact were alleged to have been fictionalised. Later works included a novel based on the slave trade, The Viceroy of Ouidah, which he researched with extended stays in Benin, West Africa. For The Songlines (1987), a work combining fiction and non-fiction, Chatwin went to Australia. He studied the culture to express how the songs of the Aborigines are a cross between a creation myth, an atlas and an Aboriginal man's personal story. He also related the travelling expressed in The Songlines to his own travels and the long nomadic past of humans. Winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, his novel On the Black Hill (1982) was set closer to home, in the hill farms of the Welsh Borders. It focuses on the relationship between twin brothers, Lewis and Benjamin, who grow up isolated from the course of twentieth century history. Utz (1988), was a novel about the obsession that leads people to collect. Set in Prague, the novel details the life and death of Kaspar Utz, a man obsessed with his collection of Meissen porcelain. Chatwin was working on a number of new ideas for future novels at the time of his death from AIDS in 1989, including a transcontinental epic, provisionally titled Lydia Livingstone.

[source: https--www.goodreads.com]